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...and the US would struggle mightily to find local bases from which to launch an attack against Iran.
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You are aware that the US military has bases on both sides of Iran in Iraq and Afghanistan? How can you get more local than both of Iran's neighbors?
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Maybe I'm misreading the situation, but I was working on the assumption that using Iraqi bases against Iran wouldn't be practical. Iraq is after all mostly Shiite, and a lot of its leaders have ties with Iran.
Afghanistan presents fewer political issues, but most of the action in a conflict with Iran would be centered on the Persian Gulf, 500 or so hostile miles from Afghanistan.
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So if we attack Iran from Qatar, we won't offend Iraqi shiites? How does this make sense -- we are occupying Iraq, no? And if you move the goalposts and talk just the Gulf, not Iran proper, well we ring the Gulf with bases and carriers, so what's your point?
Edit: Here, let me help you with this map. Would you still like to contend that we have no local bases to attack Iran or the Persian Gulf? And these are just the ones with active USAF air bases, I'm not even including the number of carrier air wings which could easily join the fight.
And I'm sure I'm missing some, these are just the ones I know off the top of my head. I believe the US has many more operating locations in Iraq. And if you include Army attack helicopters, the number of air bases in the region grows even more.